MLB Preview
O.K, so it's time to leave college hoops and hit the NBA, right? Well, sort of. Be ready for a very exciting season of major league baseball. This year the MLB looks like it will be fantastic, and we have some very talented teams. Let's dive into the action. Steeeerike one!
AL East
O.K, yeah, the AL East is ruled by the Yankees and the Red Sox. But let's face it; other teams have talent. Led by Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria with Matt Garza and James Shields leading the pitching corps, Tampa Bay looks good. Brian Roberts leads the Orioles, who still look like they have enough talent to compete for the spot in the cellar.
Toronto has had a reputation of 3rd place in the AL East, but Vernon Wells and Alex Lind look to lead the big bats of the Jays. Dana Eveland was added to the pitching corps, but Toronto might not have enough defensive talent. But with Jon Lester and Jon Lackey and Jonathan Papelbon, the Boston Red Sox have tons of defensive talent. And David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkillis lead the big bats.
The big spending New York Yankees have Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, and Mark Texiara, the Yankees bats will keep going. With C.C Sabathia and Andy Pettite leading the starting corps and Mariano Rivera closing, the Yankees look great. Prediction: 1 Yankees, 2 Red Sox, 3 Blue Jays, 4 Rays, 5 Orioles
AL Central
This division is completely open to all teams. Johnny Damon, Carlos Gullien, Miguel Cabrera and Brandon Inge lead the Detroit Tigers bats, and Dontrelle Willis and Justin Verlander lead the pitchers. Denard Span, Justin Mornaeu, and Joe Mauer lead the Twins bats, but the pitching corps will have a tough time. Mark Buehrle leads the Chicago White Sox rotation, and Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin lead their bats. Grady Sizemore leads the Indians bats and outfield, but the Cleveland Indians don't have enough talent to match their rivals. David DeJesus leads the Kansas City Royals bats and AL Cy Young winner Zach Grienke leads the Royals. Overall I think the pitching corps of Minnesota don't match up to Chicago and Detroit, and the two will be neck and neck for a playoff berth. Predcition: 1 Detroit, 2 Chicago WS, 3 Minnesota, 4 Kansas City, 5 Cleveland
AL West
The Seattle Mariners are the best that they have been in a while. Casey Kotchman, Ichiro Suzuki and Ken Griffey Jr. lead the M's bats, and Felix Hernandez, Ian Snell and Cliff Lee (injured for 3 weeks) lead the rotation. Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero lead the Texas Rangers bats, and Rich Harden leads the rotation. Hideki Matsui leads the normally strong (and still strong) Los Angeles Angels, and Jered Weaver leads the rotation. Gio Gonzalez and Ben Sheets lead the Oakland A's rotation, and Kevin Kouzmanoff and Rajai Davis lead the bats. Prediction: 1 Seattle, 2 LA Angels, 3 Texas, 4 Oakland
AL Playoff Picks: Yankees over Tigers, 4 games, Mariners over Red Sox, 5 games Round 2: Mariners over Yankees, 7 games
NL East
Again, the Philadelphia Phillies are loaded with talent. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth led the strong bats, and Roy Halladay (1-0) and Cole Hamels lead the rotation. Johna Santana and Francisco Rodriguez lead the New YorkMets rotation, and David Wright and Gary Matthews Jr. lead the bats. Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla lead the hits (and home runs) for the Florida Marlins. Josh Johnson leads a not-so strong rotation for them. Josh Willingham and Ryan Zimmerman lead the depleted Nationals, who again have NO talent. Nate McClouth and Melky Cabrera lead the Braves bats, and Billy Wagner leads the pitchers. Prediction: 1 Philadelphia, 2 Florida, 3 Atlanta, 4 New York Mets, 5 Washington
NL Central
Albert Pujous leads the again strong St. Louis Cardinals into baseball season in 2010. Pujous, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina lead the bats, while Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright (2nd and 3rd place NL Cy Young award finishers) lead a very strong rotation. Trevor Hoffman leads the Milwaukee Brewers rotation, while Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder lead the hitters. Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukedome and Geovany Soto lead the Cubs bats, while Carlos Zambrano leads the rotation. Andy LaRoche and Ryan Doumit lead the Pirates, who don't have a strong rotation.
Carlos Lee and Pedro Feliz lead the normally sub-par Astros, while Roy Oswalt plans to rock the mound. Bronson Arroyo hopes to throw the Reds to perfection, while Orlando Cabrera and co. try to hit up the same thing. Prediction: 1. St. Louis, 2 Chicago Cubs, 3 Milwaukee, 4 Houston, 5 Cincinnati, 6 Pittsburgh
NL West
The normally below 500. (not last year) San Francisco Giants look poised for a run this year. 2 time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum leads the rotation, while Aaron Rowand, Josh Bowker and Pablo Sandoval lead the bats. Andre Either and Manny Ramirez lead the Dodgers, while Chad Billingsley looks to rock the mound. Stephen Drew and Adam LaRoche lead the Arizona Diamondbacks bats, while Dan Haren rocks the mound. Adrian Gonzalez and Scott Hairston lead the Padres, but a not-so strong rotations leaves San Diego in the cellar. Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton and Jason Giambi leads the Rockies, but the rotation looks to create some problems. Predictions: 1 San Francisco, 2 LA Dodgers, 3 Arizona, 4 Colorado, 5 San Diego
NL Picks: Giants over Cardinals in 5 games, Phillies over Dodgers in 5 games, Giants over Phillies in 7 games
World Series Pick: Mariners over Giants, 6 games MVP's: Ichiro Suzuki, Cliff Lee
Cy Young award: NL: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants AL: Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
AL MVP: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins NL MVP: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
AL East
O.K, yeah, the AL East is ruled by the Yankees and the Red Sox. But let's face it; other teams have talent. Led by Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria with Matt Garza and James Shields leading the pitching corps, Tampa Bay looks good. Brian Roberts leads the Orioles, who still look like they have enough talent to compete for the spot in the cellar.
Toronto has had a reputation of 3rd place in the AL East, but Vernon Wells and Alex Lind look to lead the big bats of the Jays. Dana Eveland was added to the pitching corps, but Toronto might not have enough defensive talent. But with Jon Lester and Jon Lackey and Jonathan Papelbon, the Boston Red Sox have tons of defensive talent. And David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkillis lead the big bats.
The big spending New York Yankees have Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, and Mark Texiara, the Yankees bats will keep going. With C.C Sabathia and Andy Pettite leading the starting corps and Mariano Rivera closing, the Yankees look great. Prediction: 1 Yankees, 2 Red Sox, 3 Blue Jays, 4 Rays, 5 Orioles
AL Central
This division is completely open to all teams. Johnny Damon, Carlos Gullien, Miguel Cabrera and Brandon Inge lead the Detroit Tigers bats, and Dontrelle Willis and Justin Verlander lead the pitchers. Denard Span, Justin Mornaeu, and Joe Mauer lead the Twins bats, but the pitching corps will have a tough time. Mark Buehrle leads the Chicago White Sox rotation, and Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin lead their bats. Grady Sizemore leads the Indians bats and outfield, but the Cleveland Indians don't have enough talent to match their rivals. David DeJesus leads the Kansas City Royals bats and AL Cy Young winner Zach Grienke leads the Royals. Overall I think the pitching corps of Minnesota don't match up to Chicago and Detroit, and the two will be neck and neck for a playoff berth. Predcition: 1 Detroit, 2 Chicago WS, 3 Minnesota, 4 Kansas City, 5 Cleveland
AL West
The Seattle Mariners are the best that they have been in a while. Casey Kotchman, Ichiro Suzuki and Ken Griffey Jr. lead the M's bats, and Felix Hernandez, Ian Snell and Cliff Lee (injured for 3 weeks) lead the rotation. Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero lead the Texas Rangers bats, and Rich Harden leads the rotation. Hideki Matsui leads the normally strong (and still strong) Los Angeles Angels, and Jered Weaver leads the rotation. Gio Gonzalez and Ben Sheets lead the Oakland A's rotation, and Kevin Kouzmanoff and Rajai Davis lead the bats. Prediction: 1 Seattle, 2 LA Angels, 3 Texas, 4 Oakland
AL Playoff Picks: Yankees over Tigers, 4 games, Mariners over Red Sox, 5 games Round 2: Mariners over Yankees, 7 games
NL East
Again, the Philadelphia Phillies are loaded with talent. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth led the strong bats, and Roy Halladay (1-0) and Cole Hamels lead the rotation. Johna Santana and Francisco Rodriguez lead the New YorkMets rotation, and David Wright and Gary Matthews Jr. lead the bats. Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla lead the hits (and home runs) for the Florida Marlins. Josh Johnson leads a not-so strong rotation for them. Josh Willingham and Ryan Zimmerman lead the depleted Nationals, who again have NO talent. Nate McClouth and Melky Cabrera lead the Braves bats, and Billy Wagner leads the pitchers. Prediction: 1 Philadelphia, 2 Florida, 3 Atlanta, 4 New York Mets, 5 Washington
NL Central
Albert Pujous leads the again strong St. Louis Cardinals into baseball season in 2010. Pujous, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina lead the bats, while Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright (2nd and 3rd place NL Cy Young award finishers) lead a very strong rotation. Trevor Hoffman leads the Milwaukee Brewers rotation, while Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder lead the hitters. Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukedome and Geovany Soto lead the Cubs bats, while Carlos Zambrano leads the rotation. Andy LaRoche and Ryan Doumit lead the Pirates, who don't have a strong rotation.
Carlos Lee and Pedro Feliz lead the normally sub-par Astros, while Roy Oswalt plans to rock the mound. Bronson Arroyo hopes to throw the Reds to perfection, while Orlando Cabrera and co. try to hit up the same thing. Prediction: 1. St. Louis, 2 Chicago Cubs, 3 Milwaukee, 4 Houston, 5 Cincinnati, 6 Pittsburgh
NL West
The normally below 500. (not last year) San Francisco Giants look poised for a run this year. 2 time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum leads the rotation, while Aaron Rowand, Josh Bowker and Pablo Sandoval lead the bats. Andre Either and Manny Ramirez lead the Dodgers, while Chad Billingsley looks to rock the mound. Stephen Drew and Adam LaRoche lead the Arizona Diamondbacks bats, while Dan Haren rocks the mound. Adrian Gonzalez and Scott Hairston lead the Padres, but a not-so strong rotations leaves San Diego in the cellar. Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton and Jason Giambi leads the Rockies, but the rotation looks to create some problems. Predictions: 1 San Francisco, 2 LA Dodgers, 3 Arizona, 4 Colorado, 5 San Diego
NL Picks: Giants over Cardinals in 5 games, Phillies over Dodgers in 5 games, Giants over Phillies in 7 games
World Series Pick: Mariners over Giants, 6 games MVP's: Ichiro Suzuki, Cliff Lee
Cy Young award: NL: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants AL: Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
AL MVP: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins NL MVP: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
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